A mutation in the amino-terminal end of the triple helix of type II collagen causing severe osteochondrodysplasia.

Type II collagen is coded by a large gene (COL2A1) consisting of 54 exons on chromosome 12. During the past few years several cartilage disorders have been linked to this gene, and some specific nucleotide changes have been identified in patients. In a spondyloepiphyseal form of chondrodysplasia, the three mutations found so far are all in exon 48 in the region coding for the carboxyl-terminal end of the triple helix. Since folding of the type II collagen polypeptides to the triple helix is initiated from the carboxyl-terminal end, it has been suggested that mutations in this region typically result in severe cartilage diseases. Here we report a novel mutation located in the area coding for the amino-terminal part of the triple helix in a sporadic patient with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED). The mutation, a substitution of G1063 to A, which results in the conversion of Gly154 to Arg, was identified using exon-specific amplification of genomic DNA and subsequent analyses with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and single-strand conformation polymorphism. The substitution was not found in any other SED patient in Finland. This novel mutation demonstrates that amino acid substitutions in the amino-terminal part of the type II collagen triple helix can also result in SED.